"Climbing" Kilimanjaro

Gizzle

Hi all,

Hope this is the right forum to stick this in, if not, feel free to plonk it wherever.

As the title states, I'm climbing/walking Kilimanjaro in November, and I'm just wondering if anyone who has already climbed has any tips for training/recommended guide groups/equipment recommendations etc. that they'd like to impart. I'm a reasonably fit lad who did a lot of hiking as a kid, but hasn't done so for about 10 years. I'm working on increasing lung capacity in a (probably futile) effort to combat possible altitude sickness, and I'm trying a bit of hill walking/jogging to build up my calves. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Evil Phil

Do loads of hill walking to get your fitness up. Make sure you don't ascend too quickly and have time to acclimatise. Stay hydrated! If your pee is yellow you need to drink more water. 'Pee ofter, pee clear' is a good rule of thumb to go by.

Alun

What Phil said, plus bear in mind that fitness does not equal freedom from potential altitude sickness. The two are unrelated and anyone, even the fittest of people can get it if you don't take it easy and acclimatize .. take it from someone who knows

Roen

Unfortunately you may not have time to acclimatise. As far as I know the usual time allotted to Kili is 5 days (depending on who organises it). Which brings up the question of who is actually organising it? Are you going solo or are there other more experienced heads about?

I may be a bit cynical about this but I do believe profits are put ahead of peoples lives in a lot of things in life, but especially there.

Read up on this link here.

Get as fit as the time you have will allow, if nothing else you'll enjoy the experience an awful lot more as a fit person. No point in being knackered from day one
Plenty of hill walking is the job as has already been pointed out.

Also learn up as much as you can on AMS and how to spot it early, even if you don't get it you may spot it in someone else and be able to advise.
Don't be afraid to turn around. The only successful trip to the mountains is one you return from.

That said best of luck, I hope you have a great time Africa can be a genuinely fantastic place

Gizzle

Thanks to everyone for your tips!

"Pee often, pee clear", sounds like a typical Saturday night!


We're booking it through a group recommended to us by guys who climbed Kili before, and there are four of us so far. We're stretching it over the 7 days, it seems to up your chances of survival considerably, taking into account that we're climbing it at possibly the worst time of the year.

Already started incorporating hill walking into my training. I never realised how little I used my calves before!

Thanks again guys!

pirelli

Hi

I climbed mont blanc.Being fit is the most important thing. The recommended minimum for acclimatising to climb mont blanc (4800) is three days. That in involved some high altitude walking and then night above 3200 and then another night at 4000 and so forth. But your best bet is too spend a long day walking in high altitude and then rest at 3ooo+. When i climbed mont blanc I climbed to 3200 and back down again and then the next day climbed to 3200 rested for 5 hours and then climbed to 3800 rested for 2- 3 hours and then finished the climb to 4600 and stayed at 3800 for the night.

I never got altitude sickness. What I was most concerned with was the weather and the right clothes as it can be as low as -30 and in severe wind
even colder. It was snow from 2500m. Having the right equipment and remember isotonic mixed with fluids will improve your performance and reduce your hydration and reduce the amount of water you have to carry(p28 The hillwakers guide to mountaineering) .Ideally if you could get water on the mountain your off to a good start.Any suggestions???

On Mount Blanc when when you get to the top of the desert rock cliff at 3200 meters and have a clear view of tete rousse and a wide encompass of deep snow .Just at the well trodden trail that starts into the snow ,if you listen uder the snow there is a fast running water source and this invaluable to save carrying gallons of water and its easy to refill from because the snow allows you to build deep pools of water.

I dont know about Kilmanjaro but mont blanc required crampons and ice axe's
etc.....Easy to use just a few basic lessons required.

Mothman

Done Kilimanjaro.

7 days is good plan.

I was in a party of 10, ranging from fit to overweight unfit and we all got to top (crator rim) and 8 went on to make it to peak. This was a very high success rate. I think what helped us was that we were in the area doing safari trips for couple weeks before hand. The general height I think being close to 1000m. This I think was much better than coming straight from sea level.

What was drilled into us before starting was taking it slowly. There is plenty of time to to get from hut to hut. Take in the monkeys, the vegetation. The latter facinated me because at a certain height (I can't remember what), many of the plants were same species as here at home. At another altitude it was a forest of heather some 5 metres high.

The final ascent up the scree slope was difficult as it was not frozen. 2 steps up, one step slip. the run down the slope was awesome

I found the breathing very important at the top. Breathe in step, breath out step. Once I concentrated on that I managed fine.

As others have said, fitness has nothing to do with altitude sickness. With a 7 day trip, you'll probably have a rest day at one of the huts. I'd climb half way to next hut and come back down.

No need for crampons and ice axe's. There are (or at least were) some small glaciers on top but these don't need to be negotiated.

Good luck and tell us about, it'll bring back more memories

pirelli

Is it expensive to stay in the mountain huts? and also safarii, What makes the trip so expensive.
I would like to go but cant budget it in at the moment.

thirtyfoot

One of the reasons of the cost is an attempt to keep numbers down, the place is overrun. The fee has doubled in the last couple of years.

wonka

6 of us went last year. Booked it all seperately. Aer lingus to Heathrow and onwards to Kilimanjaro with Ethiopia airlines (who are quite good!). Organised good earth tours to collect us and stayed in Moshi. Did the marangu route with them and only 1 didn't make it to the top. saved a good bit over costs quoted by such companies as explore etc. Did a 4 day safari after it with the same company. for only 600 dollars! well worth it.
Advice would be to do a good few walks beforehand. up mountains if you can. it will help you get to the top.

pirelli

lol

Gizzle

Kilimanjaro, consider yourself SERVED! Got to Uhuru Peak, and did it all in 5 days! I'll stick up pics if people are interested.

BostonB

Love to see them.

Roen

Congrats,
would be interested in hearing your experiences with altitude and any difficulties that anyone encountered along the way. I usually get hit at about 5000M.

Would love to see pics also!

pirelli

Well done, and would also love to see some Pictures.
Did you check your pee?

Roen

I got so into the habit of checking it everytime I was at altitude that I check it every single time I go now. Have been doing it for 7 years. A good habit too I have to say.

Where's those pics OP

Gizzle

Sorry lads, I threw in a bit of snowboarding after Kili I've been feverishly job hunting since I got back, very little time to get on boards! Pics up tomorrow, I plomise! :P

Pee checking, 20 times a day!

paddylast

Gizzle

what was the name of the tour company you went with?
considering this myself over the next year!

you climb any mountains here before heading off as practice?

Gizzle

paddylast, we went with a group called Kessy Brothers, they're located in Moshi from what I recall, they provide you with any gear you don't have for free and are a good climb organiser from our experience. One point to note, and I don't know if this is the same across the board, but they request a minimum amount for tips somewhere in the region of 20-25% of the cost of the climb, so bring plenty of dollars with you!

With regards practice climbing, I was in the unfortunate position of having to have an operation five weeks before the climb that required six weeks recuperation, so I didn't get any dry runs under my belt! Best advice is just to be relatively fit, I didn't get any altitude related illnesses save for a pounding headache at Uhuru, but it was more than worth the pain!

And finally, as plomised, pics!

More on the way, dastardly five limit file upload limit...

Roen

Good stuff on the pics, keep em coming

BostonB

Great to see the pics!

Crubeens

Gizzle, what kind of gear did you need on the climb? I'm going at the end of Feb and am at a bit of a loss as to how many bass layers, trousers fleeces etc I need to bring. All advice welcome!

Gizzle

Crubeens, when I climbed it, it was probably a lot colder and drier than when you're looking to do it, but even with -20 degrees at Uhuru I still found I brought too much gear!

You don't even need to wear a jacket (unless it rains) up until the end of day 2/start of day 3, but all the gear I've mentioned below I found to be indispensible;

- Warm sleeping bag. Not one you used back in the scouts, don't make the same mistake I did!

- Thermal underwear, a couple of pairs, only needed for the end of the climb.

- One good pair of Thinsulate trackie bottoms. With decent hiking socks and thermal underwear, they should be more than enough to keep you warm, yet not too heavy so as to cause you to sweat.

- With regards tops, on the last push to Uhuru I was wearing gloves (essential) a scarf (essential) a wooly hat, thermal vest, a t-shirt, a zip up fleece, a jacket and a 100% waterproof coat. The jacket was overkill, but everything else worked well. Thermal & zip up fleece keep you warm, and if you do feel the heat, you can just zip down the fleece, and the waterproof coat keeps out the wind and rain.

- Good hiking boots. Probably the most important, saved my ankles countless numbers of times! Especially down the scree on the way down, that was a nightmare!

More pics! For some reason, the best ones won't upload, even after resizing. Hmmm...I'll look into this.

Crubeens

I have a Vango Vannite 250 sleeping bag. It cost 50 quid and is '2 to 3 season'; do you think thats enough or do I need a heavy duty pro one to get any sleep at all?!